An address typed from memory, or copied wrong off an invitation, sends a visitor to the wrong street or the wrong door. A dropped pin removes that guesswork entirely: scan it and the phone's own map opens with Directions one tap away.
A QR code for a location works from an address, a dropped pin, or a pair of coordinates, all typed or pasted from a Google Maps link. It shows up on wedding and party invitations, delivery instructions, rental listings, event signs and trade-show badges, wherever an entrance is easy to walk past. It is free, needs no account, and a static code never expires.
Pinning your location in a code
Choose an address or a pin
An address is enough for a house or a shop. For a gate, a loading dock, a trailhead or a field, drop a pin in Google Maps, because an address points at the building, not the entrance.
Copy a Google Maps link if you need one
In Google Maps, tap the place or the dropped pin, choose Share and copy the link. It usually starts with maps.app.goo.gl.
Type or paste into the map field
The location field above takes a typed address, which becomes a Google Maps search, or a pasted Google Maps link, which is kept as it is. For an Apple Maps link, switch to the web address type and paste it there.
Open it on a phone at the spot
Scan the preview and check that the pin lands where people should arrive, not in the middle of a large site.
QR code for an address, a pin or coordinates
Map apps resolve three kinds of input. The right one depends on how well the street address describes the place people actually need to reach.
Street address
Readable and easy to proofread. Include the postal code, since the same street name exists in many towns.
Dropped pin or place link
Best for venues with several entrances, rural properties and campsites. A place link also shows the business name and hours if the spot is listed.
Coordinates or a Plus Code
For spots with no address at all, like a beach access or a meeting point in a park. Google Maps accepts latitude and longitude separated by a comma, and the Plus Code it shows under a dropped pin.
Google Maps or Apple Maps: which one the code opens
A Google Maps link opens the Google Maps app when the phone has it, and Google Maps in the browser when it does not; directions work in both. Many iPhone owners only use Apple Maps, though.
If your audience is mostly on iPhone, such as guests at a private event, an Apple Maps link opens Apple Maps directly: copy it from Share in Apple Maps and encode it as a web address. For a general audience, Google Maps is the safer default because it opens on every phone.
What a location code holds
A typed address becomes a Google Maps search URL, with the address after query=. A pasted map link is stored exactly as shared. Either way the code holds a web address, which any camera app can open.
https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Storgata%2012%2C%200155%20OsloWhere location codes go and how large to print them
On an invitation or a delivery note, a 25 mm code beside the printed address is enough. A sign at a site entrance is often scanned from a car window; at two meters it needs to be about 20 cm wide. Avoid glossy laminate, which washes out in low sun.
Print it at least 25 mm (2.5 cm) wide
Location codes that send people to the wrong place
Trusting the address pin on a large site
A hospital, campus or industrial estate resolves to a single point, often a main entrance you did not mean. Pin the exact door or gate.
Leaving out the postal code
A street name alone can match several towns, and the map app picks one. Test the typed address before printing.
Printing the code without the address
Some guests will not scan, and drivers often type the address into the car's navigation. Keep it printed beside the code.
When a location code should be dynamic
A building does not move, so a static code on an invitation or a flyer is the right choice: free, permanent and with nothing in between.
Make it dynamic when the place can change after printing, such as a market stall that rotates between sites, a pop-up shop or signage on a vehicle. You re-point the printed code to the new pin. It needs a free account, and the first two dynamic codes are free forever.
How dynamic QR codes workLocation codes in use
- A wedding invitation carries a code to the barn venue's pinned gate, because the farm address leads to the house instead.
- A furniture store prints a code on delivery notes that opens the pickup point at its loading bay.
- A trail association puts codes at trailheads that open the pin of the next parking area.